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Keith (VLD)
Keith is the current Red Paladin who pilots the Red Lion of Voltron. He previously was a highly skilled and promising pilot cadet at the Galaxy Garrison before being expelled for a "discipline issue". He retreated to the desert to search for a purpose and consequently felt the energy emitted by the Blue Lion, leading him to remain there and investigate the surrounding caverns full of lion carvings. Keith suddenly appears at the crash site of Shiro's return to Earth a year after the purported Kerberos Mission's disaster, and joins Lance, Hunk, and Pidge in rescuing Shiro from the Garrison military. Their subsequent assistance in discovering the Blue Lion triggers the events leading to the return of Voltron, beginning Keith's new life as a Paladin fighting the Galra Empire. Official Profile Guardian Spirit of Fire Orphaned at a young age before enlisting in the Galaxy Garrison, Keith is somewhat of a lone wolf. Considered to be the most talented pilot of his generation, he refuses to live by other people’s rules, instead choosing to carve out his own path.Voltron: Legendary Defender Official Website Appearance Keith has the appearance of a lean, but muscular, older teenager with pale skin, black hair, and blue-grey eyes. His eyebrows are thick and long. Keith's hair is notably a messy mullet with uneven-cut bangs that tend to sweep to the left of his face in three large clusters with smaller pieces in-between. The longest tips of his center bangs reach just under his eyes; his bangs frame his face slightly longer and curled at his cheekbones. The rest of his hair reaches the base of his neck, wildly flaring out in curved strands that tend to sit on top of his coat collar or armor. He has two strands of hair that sprout from the top of his head. Of the Paladins, Keith is the second-shortest, beating only Pidge in height. In his Paladin armor, Keith's uniform mirrors his fellow Paladins but with red accents to match that of his Lion. When he is not in his Paladin armor, Keith wears a dark blue-grey t-shirt underneath a red jacket cropped at about his ribcage. Keith wears the sleeves of the jacket with the large cuffs rolled up to expose their white color and his gloved hands. The collar of the jacket stands propped upright; its white color extends over his shoulders and lines each of his sleeves in a single thick stripe, and also reaches down the center of his back until it meets the darker red lining the hem of his jacket. Two blocks of yellow on each side extend downward at the slight angle across Keith's chest and meet the white lining the opening of his jacket. Although his cuffs and inner collar are white, his jacket's inner lining is the same red as most of the outside. Keith's black gloves are of the biker variant, fingerless and exposing part of his hand before strapping together over the wrist. At his waist, Keith wears a brown utility belt that sits over his shirt with a silver rectangular buckle in the center and two large grey-brown pouches at either hip. The belt is angled down from his left hip to his right. Strapped to the belt at his lower back is a silver-colored dagger with a black pommel, but the dagger is mostly unseen as it is wrapped in cloth and kept sheathed in an over-sized scabbard that conceals even the dagger's quillions, allowing only the handle to be visible. The scabbard is a simple striped design alternating between a dark gray and silver. Keith wears black pants that his shirt overlaps; his boots are white with black accenting the shin and red accenting the cuffs. The toes of his boots are equally red, while his soles are lined in black with patches of red underfoot, peeking out somewhat at his inner heels. Personality Keith is normally reserved, quiet, and calm, but is quick to give sarcastic quips and blunt commentary. He is susceptible to his honest emotions and can become argumentative and yell if something sets him off, and he will remain steadfast in what he believes is the best course of action. Keith has a tendency to favor following his instincts above all else and will act entirely on his own regardless of the danger and challenge. While a grounded and logical thinker, his rebellious and impulsive nature leads him to be foiled by his own frustration, temper, and unwavering desire to defeat the Galra Empire. He must reel himself in with patience and focus or the input of his fellow teammates to help cool his head. Despite this, Keith's decisions can lead to impressive accomplishments. He is not overtly confident, but is aware of his skills and strengths to have trust in them and will ask others to do the same. His instinctive personality also means Keith will not always favor fighting over infiltration and observation, and he may exercise caution in dealing with an enemy if the situation poses heavy or unknown risk. This pragmatism can cause himself to come off as cold, uncaring, and selfish, such as when he suggests the team should not rush in to rescue Allura because it would mean bringing Voltron directly to Zarkon, which could cost the overall mission of defending the universe. Although not fond of the idea of abandoning a teammate, he considers it thinking as a Paladin to weigh the greater good over a single life. Indeed, Keith has embraced his role as the Red Paladin to near extremes. There have been times where he has shown unfettered rage and emotional instability regarding defeating the Galra Empire: when Pidge desires to relinquish her role as a Paladin to search for missing family, Keith thinks it so selfish to value the lives of two over the lives of all and leave them unable to form Voltron that he aggressively closes in on her;Season 1, Episode 4: "The Fall of the Castle of Lions" and upon the sight of Zarkon, Keith becomes so hyper-focused and obsessed with the idea of Zarkon's death meaning the end of the Empire that he ignores all advice to flee and instead fiercely battles him.Season 1, Episode 11: "The Black Paladin" Keith places such high value on the stakes of the team's mission that his pragmatism causes disconnect and misunderstanding between himself and the other Paladins, and this, coupled with his temper, is not aided by how Keith has yet to open himself up to anyone personally on Team Voltron and has revealed hardly any information about himself. Keith can become visibly frustrated in his lack of understanding of others when things do not comply with the mutual benefit or logic he sees. Keith's attempts at bonding are the best example of this, as he seems to assume they will bear fruit without real understanding of how bonds work: his straight-forward attempt to activate the Red Lion is initially denied, and when he yells at Pidge as she tries to leave for her own goals, Shiro reminds him people cannot be forced into being a team. In truth, Keith places as much value on the members of his team as he does his mission and makes honest effort to connect with them; for all his seriousness, Keith is hardly stoic and is capable of loosening up and enjoys a good bout of fun. He seems closest to Shiro, and it is heavily implied that they knew each other before the latter became a Galra prisoner.Season 1, Episode 1: "The Rise of Voltron" Keith is highly observant of his team's well-being and will rush to protect or avenge them when needed even if it means putting himself directly in harm's way,Season 1, Episode 2: "Some Assembly Required" and this self-sacrifice is something he extends to the Red Lion to prove his worth. He keeps a watchful eye on everyone,Season 1, Episode 3: "Return of the Gladiator" and will scold them for their lack of focus, acting as a guard for their safety when they drop their own. Keith can put past arguments aside and happily accept the presence, teamwork, and praise of someone he earlier had been angry with.Season 1, Episode 5: "Tears of the Balmera" He even seems offended that Lance does not remember their "bonding moment" after the defeat of Sendak.Season 1, Episode 6: "Taking Flight" It is clear that Keith has an immense sense of justice, selflessness, and the desire to fight alongside his team to bring light to the darkest time of the universe despite what costs may come. Abilities As the Red Paladin, Keith's Bayard takes the form of a long katar specialized for close-combat that he is significantly skilled at. Like other Paladins, his armor enables him to form an energy shield for defense and contains a jetpack for briefly sustained flight. When out of uniform, Keith carries a dagger of unknown significance, partially wrapped in cloth from the handle to the pommel, usually sheathed and strapped to his lower back, but has not used it for battle yet. Keith's battle strength lies mainly in his agility, speed, and trust in his instincts. His agility stats are officially the highest. He is a skilled martial artist able to take down Garrison technicians in mere moments with a few powerful strikes. As an aggressive fighter, he will plunge himself into the throes of battle. Even in the face of a powerful enemy, Keith has an unwavering determination to win no matter the cost, which can induce a berserker-like rage in him that, while clouding his judgment, can awaken new abilities within his Lion and push himself well past his limits. It is not often that Keith runs from a fight, and he has only done so when he has little understanding of the situation and truly feels vulnerable.Season 1, Episode 9: "Crystal Venom"Season 1, Episode 10: "Collection and Extraction" He is notably willing and able to go toe-to-toe with Zarkon despite the apparent difference in experience and power. While he was at the Galaxy Garrison, Keith was considered the top pilot of his class, and this holds true as the Paladin of the Red Lion: he is able to pilot the Red Lion with ease through a dense asteroid field; Keith is also able to pilot a one-man hovercraft overcrowded with passengers at high speed, use their weight to his advantage, and safely launch the hovercraft off a cliff at full speed, land it, and then continue flying. Trivia * Keith's full name has not been revealed. * Keith may be ambidextrous, as he switches using his Bayard and shield between both arms. For example, Keith wields his Bayard as it first forms in his right hand and the shield on his left. During his infiltration of the Galra ship to claim the Red Lion later, he attacks sentries with the Bayard in his left hand, shield on his right. Keith trains and fights the corrupted Training Gladiator while wielding his Bayard in his right hand. While infiltrating a Quintessence refinery, Keith fights a Galra Druid with the Bayard in his left hand. * While Pidge states that Galra technology cannot be interfaced with by normal means, and it is shown in episodes that characters use sentry arms to open locked Galra doorsSeason 1, Episode 7: "Return to the Balmera", Keith is able to activate a Galra switch with his own hand, which is clearly shown to be natural and not a prosthetic. The only other person seen to do this is Allura while donning her disguise as a Galran. * It should be noted that, although reverted to normal by the healing power of Quintessence, Keith's hand becomes an oddly-discolored and patterned purple-gray when he is later injured by the dark magic of a Galra Druid. * Keith is based on the character Keith of the previous Voltron franchises, who in turn was based on the character Akira Kogane of Beast King GoLion. 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